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Somerset Counts — Somerset, in numbers.Local help →

Somerset, in numbers

Crime and safety

Somerset council area. Every figure carries its own date.

What the recorded figures show, and what they cannot tell us.

Recorded crime and population

A larger population can mean more recorded offences even when the number of offences per resident falls. Read the total and the rate together.

Somerset · 2025/26 · Territorial police-recorded offences excluding fraud; British Transport Police excluded by CSP source. Source classifications retained.

Recorded offences

49,467

Offences per 1,000 residents

84.1

Population used for the rate

About 588,300

2024 mid-year population

The source rounds this population to the nearest 100. The rate shown is the official published rate.

Show the figures and workings

The rate is recorded offences divided by the population, multiplied by 1,000. Where the source rounds its population figure, we retain its published rate rather than recalculate it from that rounded figure. This counts offences, not the percentage of residents who were victims.

Checked counts and population-based rates
PeriodOffencesPopulation usedPer 1,000 residents
2025/2649,467About 588,300 (2024)84.1

These figures match the source area for this period. That does not establish a comparable history for today’s council boundaries.

Official source and method →
Can we test the population theory over 30 years?

Only where the offence definitions, recording practices and area boundaries are comparable. Changes in reporting, police recording and the types of crime matter too. We do not join incompatible series or invent missing years.

Only the latest independently checked observation is displayed. A comparable long-run crime-and-population trend has not been established.

  • 2002/03: Series starts after April 2002 recording-standard introduction; not comparable to pre-2002 records.
  • 2013/14: Offence grouping revision; source back-series retained. Recording practice changes also affect comparisons.
  • 2017/18: Burglary classification changed; broad total retained but detailed groups need review.
  • 2023/24: Burglary subcategories and recording-rule changes require interpretation review.

A comparable 30-year crime-and-population trend has not been established for this area.

For example, if offences rose by 10% while population rose by 20%, offences per resident would fall by about 8%. This is an illustration, not a finding about this area.

People commuting or visiting can also affect offences recorded in a place. The resident population is a useful common denominator, but does not count everyone present.

What could help? Follow the types and locations of repeated problems, check residents’ experiences, and assess the response. Area population totals do not identify who commits offences.

Local issues and proposed responses →

Police-recorded locations for Somerset council area. Locations are approximate; these are not all crimes or a measure of personal risk.

45,686 mapped crimes

September 2025 to August 2026. Compared with 43,020 in the previous 12 months. Anti-social behaviour is counted separately.

Mapped crime over time

September 2024 to August 2026

Somerset council area · mapped crimes

Reviewed figures: September 2024 to August 2026. This reviewed record covers fewer than 30 years, so the chart opens on all of it.

Shown on this chart: 3,698 mapped crimes in September 2024; 3,626 mapped crimes in August 2026. These are recorded counts; check the coverage notes before comparing periods.

The line joins consecutive published observations.

Monthly crime and anti-social behaviour
Recorded locations by month · Somerset
MonthMapped crimeAnti-social behaviour
September 20243,698605
October 20243,783571
November 20243,593546
December 20243,428456
January 20253,405429
February 20253,129440
March 20253,678548
April 20253,634678
May 20253,767708
June 20253,672692
July 20253,556764
August 20253,677710
September 20253,753653
October 20253,977592
November 20253,928582
December 20253,784487
January 20263,711498
February 20263,712581
March 20264,070658
April 20263,763709
May 20263,688823
June 20263,604718
July 20264,070720
August 20263,626716
Crime categories in the latest complete year
September 2025 to August 2026 · Somerset
CategoryMapped crimes
violent crime22,426
shoplifting5,587
public order4,404
criminal damage arson3,782
other theft3,127
burglary1,771
vehicle crime1,442
other crime1,103
robbery670
drugs641
possession of weapons342
bicycle theft309
theft from the person82
What these numbers include

Approximate published locations, not every crime or personal risk.

Anti-social behaviour is separate. Transport police and records without usable locations are excluded.

Do not compare directly with Scottish council-level recorded crime totals.

These are retrieved mapped records, not a guarantee of complete crime reporting. Approximate locations and unmapped incidents limit comparisons.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary: Due to a change in IT systems there are known issues with crime and outcome data since October 2015 as latitude and longitude information is missing from approximately 2000 crimes each month. The force will be working to rectify this and provide the missing data over the coming months.

Missing ward-months invalidate totals and changes. Busy centres attract visitors, so residential population is not a measure of the number of people exposed.

Police data and method →

What could improve local safety →